UNIPATH STAFF

In a move the country hopes will build stability and help sustain human rights, Tajikistan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs is expanding its network of community policing centers.

The centers are aimed at building trust between the police and the populace and upholding the rule of law. Each of the centers has a community policing partnership team, and meetings are held with police and community members to discuss crime prevention, partnership building and problem solving.

As of May 2013, Tajikistan had established 19 centers in nine districts with more planned for the future. The centers are part of a broader police reform initiative that the country has embraced since 2008.

“Through community policing, the police and the people jointly use tools and processes to manage, resolve and prevent destabilizing crime and conflict, locally, regionally and nationally,” according to the country’s police reform website, www.police-reform.tj.

Sources: U.S Embassy, Police Reform Tajikistan